Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, Director Of TIFF Entry & Lionsgate Acquisition ‘Kill’, Signs With WME

Andreas Wiseman

6 December 2023 at 9:35 am·2-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Indian filmmaker Nikhil Nagesh Bhat has signed with WME.

Bhat’s Hindi-language action film Kill recently premiered in the Midnight Madness section at this year’s TIFF and sold in a mid-seven figure deal to Lionsgate for the U.S and UK. The studio is lining up a wide theatrical release in 2024.

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Shortly after shooting Kill, Bhat directed survival thriller movie Apurva for Disney+/Hotstar and Cine1 in India. It premiered this fall and was the number one movie on the service.

Bhat, who is also known for Indian series The Gone Game and Rashbari and movies Hurdang and Long Live Brij Mohan, continues to be managed by Tulsea.

The filmmaker becomes the latest in a string of Indian directors and stars to have been signed by the Hollywood talent agencies in a sign of Bollywood’s growing global appeal and the internationalisation of the business more broadly.

Starring newcomer Lakshya alongside Raghav Juyal and Tanya Maniktala, the likely R-rated action movie Kill sees star-crossed lovers Tulika (Maniktala) and Amrit (Lakshya) find their clandestine relationship jeopardized after Tulika’s family whisks her aboard the Rajdhani Express bound for New Delhi and an arranged marriage. Commandos Amrit and his friend are far from willing to let fate dictate their story. They embark on a “rescue” mission that becomes a gory adventure.

WME Independent, which is handling global sales, brokered the U.S. deal with Lionsgate.

Pic is produced by Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehta for Dharma Productions and Guneet Monga Kapoor and Achin Jain for Sikhya Entertainment.

The rare deal marks one of the first times an Indian production has partnered with a Hollywood studio on a theatrical release in North America and the UK for a mainstream Hindi-language film.

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